If You Love Her
by Aquagirl15
Summary: Guys, keep this story in mind because these are the things you SHOULD do if you love a girl! The story follows Danny's & Sam's developing relationship. We'll start out with the simplest thing: talking to her. Each chapter becomes more romantic!
1. Talk to Her

AN: Hello everyone! I won't keep you long, I'd just like to welcome you to my first multi-chaptered Danny Phantom fic. I'd also like to thank Cordria for beta reading this chapter! -Hugs- I hope you enjoy the first chapter, I'll see you at the end...

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to the oh-so-wonderful Butch Hartman. I just like to mess with his characters!

If You Love Her…

…Talk to Her

"Heya Sam," Danny said, plopping down on the bench next to the Goth girl. Sam closed her book and looked over at Danny with her peculiarly violet eyes.

"Hey Danny, what are you doing here?" Sam motioned with her hand at the park around them.

Danny shrugged. "I was out patrolling and when I saw you I decided to stop and talk. That's ok, isn't it?" He seemed unsure of himself.

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" Sam asked with a laugh. "Anything in particular you wanted to talk about?"

"Well… how are things going for you?"

"What kind of question is that Danny? You see me everyday; surely you know how I've been."

"We don't get to talk all that much anymore," he replied with a grimace, and Sam knew Danny meant since he'd gotten his ghost powers. "We talk for about five minute intervals during school before we have to run to class. Otherwise it's just yelling 'do this' or 'watch out' during fights."

"Yeah, but that's not your fault." Sam replied as Danny shrugged again. Sam focused back on Danny's question. "I guess I've been ok recently. I can't really complain much about anything other than my parents. But, I mean, what else is new?" Danny smiled appreciatively at Sam's joke. "What about you?" Sam asked her eyes on Danny's blue ones. "Besides the obvious of course, what problems do you have?"

Danny laughed. "Oh you know the usual, trying to keep my secret, get sleep, and maintain a 'C' average." He rolled his eyes.

Sam frowned, a thoughtful look passing over her features. Danny talked about his troubles very rarely. When he did talk about them, it was so casually that she never realized how Danny's double life affected him. It suddenly occurred to her that he must come to school some days dog-tired and bruised from a night of ghost fighting. No wonder he fell asleep in class!

"I never really thought much about how hard it is for you to be two people. The super hero and the school boy," she paused for a moment, wondering if there was anything she could do to make things easier for him. Coming to a decision, she offered helpfully, "I could help you, you know… I could tutor you and help you manage your work load."

If anyone other than Sam had offered this, Danny would have brushed him or her off saying 'I don't need _your_ help thanks, I get that enough from Jazz.' But since it was Sam and not someone else, Danny nodded. "I might take you up on that," he replied. Sam smiled. "If only to spend more time with you." Danny added with a boyish smile. Sam hit him playfully.

"Be careful what you say in public Danny, someone might take you seriously." Danny was thinking that might not be such a bad thing, when he noticed a slight blush on Sam's face. It could have been a trick of the light or maybe the heat of the evening, but he felt for sure he had seen some color come to his best friend's cheeks. What did that mean?

"So, how goes the ghost fighting?" Sam asked trying to pass on to a safer subject. Hinting that there might be something more to their friendship was not what she wanted to do right now.

"It's not too bad. I think I'm getting stronger so the ghosts that used to give me trouble don't feel like a problem anymore. Still, if Skulker keeps making weekly appearances I might have some issues. Not only is he strong, he's also annoying. I swear, if he makes one more comment about how my skin would look good on the foot of his bed…" Danny trailed off.

"I think what you do is great Danny," Sam told him with a smile. She didn't think Danny got enough thanks for what he did, especially with the people of Amity regarding him as another enemy ghost and his parents constantly hunting him.

Trying to be modest, Danny stared at his hands without answering. "What would you do?" he asked after a few moments. Sam looked at him curiously. "No really Sam, I mean it. What would you have done if you were the one with the ghost powers?"

"Probably the same thing you're doing right now. Although I don't know if I'd be able to deal with it being so… thankless."

"It's not thankless. At least not completely. I can see that some people are coming around. They're starting to look at me in gratitude instead of fear. Not that they're breaking down my door trying to be best friends or anything, but it's getting better. I think a few people have realized that I'm here to help. And besides," Danny continued, "You thank me enough for the whole city. And your thanks means more to me than theirs."

Sam laughed. "I seriously doubt it. The whole thanking you enough for the whole city thing, I mean. Half the population of this city owes you their lives. Have you ever even thought about that?"

"Not really." He admitted, blinking in surprise. "I actually don't see myself as some kind of big hero. I just take everything as it comes. And honestly," Danny gave an embarrassed smile, "I'm not exactly super hero material. I'm clumsy and awkward and I make a fool of myself on a daily basis." Danny stopped as Sam was shaking her head.

"You're a teenaged boy Danny, that's what you're supposed to be like. I don't think I would be able to comprehend a suave, professional Danny Fenton that never said one wrong word. That takes the fun out of everything. You're not living life properly if you don't laugh at yourself every once in awhile."

"Thanks Sam, it means a lot to me that you like me the way I am." Danny said with a smile.

"Don't worry so much ghost-boy. Just take life like you said you take ghost fighting: as it comes."

The halfa nodded and hugged his friend briefly. As he did so he caught a glimpse of his watch and noticed how late it had become. "I'm sorry Sam, I gotta get going. But thanks for the talk. I hope we have more like this one soon."

"Yeah," Sam nodded her agreement. "See you Danny."

She watched as Fenton became Phantom and Danny flew off towards his home. Sam stared at the sky in the general direction of Fenton Works. She really hoped they would talk again soon.

AN: Cyber cookies for everyone who came this far! Thanks for reading, please drop me a review, and enjoy those cookies :D

Next Chapter Preview: I don't know when this'll be out since chapter two has not gone through the beta-ing process, but it has been written and pre-edited by me. The title of chapter two will be If You Love Her... Make Her Laugh. Hope to see you there!


	2. Make Her Laugh

AN: Here's chapter two for y'all. I hope it's not too silly. Also I'll apologize in advance if the story makes fun of anything you like. I don't mean to offend people, I just try to be funny. Thanks to all who read and/or reviewed chapter one, and an extra special thanks to Cordria my beta. Cookies for all! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. If I did, there'd be a lot less ghost fighting and a lot more romance...

If You Love Her…

…Make Her Laugh

The school day passed just like any other, except that this day was Friday and there was a certain anticipation for the coming weekend. Spring Fever was definitely setting in, made obvious by the fact that the students of Casper High could not go ten minutes without looking outside to the bright sunshine and longing to be in it. Several of the teachers had given up being nice and closed the blinds to their classroom windows.

Sam, Tucker, and Danny were no exception to the fever; they already had plans to go to the park on Saturday. The trio was in their sixth hour classes, which were unfortunately not the same, watching the last few minutes of the day slug by. Danny could hardly pay attention to his math teacher when the bright blue sky was practically calling out to him. 'Danny, Danny come fly,' it said. In her art class, Sam was having similar concentration problems. Her sketch was turning out horribly wrong because her mind kept drifting. On the other hand, Tucker had never paid his history class much attention to begin with and was secretly playing games on his PDA.

Finally the bell rang and the students went tearing out of their classrooms as fast as they possibly could. By the time Danny had met Sam and Tucker and the three had made their way out to the front campus, several different games of catch, Frisbee, and soccer were already unfolding. The friends smiled, already looking forward to their day at the park. They chatted about school and homework and how great Spring Break was sounding right about now, before Tucker had to part ways with Danny and Sam. Tucker waved to Sam and Danny as he turned left and his friends turned right.

Danny remembered his and Sam's conversation from a few days ago and felt a warmth spreading in him. Danny and Sam walked home together in a comfortable silence. They made their way a little slower than usual, glancing up at each other every once in awhile. The teens blushed whenever their eyes met, but they never said a word. They didn't feel like they had to. Danny liked this feeling, this feeling of being able to have a special moment with Sam without even saying anything, although he really had enjoyed talking to Sam the night before. It was just so easy to be with Sam. Danny didn't feel like he had to fill every silence with conversation the way he did with other girls like Valerie.

Danny was getting more comfortable being around Sam alone. He used to not like being around her without Tucker lest someone call them boyfriend and girlfriend again. Danny didn't really understand why this bothered him. It was almost an automatic response now: 'she's not my girlfriend.' Except that it used to _not _make his insides clench slightly. This confused and worried him slightly, though he wasn't sure why.

The pair reached Sam's house first. Sam smiled at Danny. "See you tomorrow!" she said brightly as they stood on her front porch.

"Yeah, you're bringing the food right?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah right, Tucker would kill you if you let me pack the food. You know he can't go to the park without eating five pounds of hotdogs."

Danny laughed too. "I know, I know. I was just kidding. I'll see you." He turned and walked down the steps back to the sidewalk. Sam watched him go with a feeling that something was missing now that he'd left.

That night the unthinkable happened. Clouds rolled in covering the sky in their inky blackness. They pressed down on Amity and shook the night sky with thunder, lightening, and a downpour of rain. That was what Danny, Tucker, and Sam awoke to on Saturday morning. Sam beat her fists against her window.

"Stupid rain," she cursed, sinking into the soft pillows on her window seat. Danny was having similar thoughts as he glared out at the clouds, promising vengeance. Exactly how he was going to get back at the weather he did not know. Tucker, perhaps, was having the worst time of things because his mom greeted him that morning with a bright smile and a toilet brush.

"Aw Mom, why do I have to help clean? I have plans with Sam and Danny you know!" he argued.

"You _had _plans to go to the park with Sam and Danny. Looks like that's not happening now so it's spring cleaning time for my little Tuck." Tucker groaned and cursed himself for not bothering to look up the weather on his PDA and make a backup plan with his friends in case of rain. When the phone rang and he saw it was Sam, he answered eagerly, hoping for a way out of his chores. Unfortunately, she had just called to see if he had a backup plan, which he didn't.

"Not only do I not have a backup plan, if you don't have one I'm going to be scrubbing toilets all day!" Tucker moaned. "You have to help me Sam."

"Sorry Tucker, I don't have any ideas either." Sam replied regretfully.

They hung up the phone then and Tucker turned to face his doom. His mother still grinned at him from the doorway, brandishing the toilet brush at him. Tucker sighed and resolved himself to cleaning for the whole day. It was depressing how the tech geek had to spend his weekends sometimes.

Just as Danny was settling himself in for a boring day of avoiding his parents' ghost locating devices, Sam called. He answered eagerly, hoping she had a backup plan. "Hey Sam."

"Hey Danny, you got a rain day plan?"

"I was hoping you did," Danny replied honestly. "What about Tuck?"

"Can't do anything, his mom has recruited him for spring cleaning."

Danny thought for a moment and then decided to test his comfort alone with Sam a bit. "Why don't you come over here and we can watch a movie or something?"

"Sounds cool with me." Sam replied. "I'll be over in a few minutes."

Danny set the phone down on the coffee table and wondered for a moment why he felt so accomplished. Sam had been one of his best friends for _years_. Why did he suddenly feel like he'd won a gold medal by getting her to come over to his house? He shrugged the feeling off and ran upstairs to change into something a little more decent than boxer shorts and an old t-shirt. He was just tying the drawstrings on his track pants when the doorbell rang.

Sam stood on the front porch in a bright pink raincoat and matching hat.

"Don't you say anything," she hissed ripping off the offensive articles of clothing. "My mom wouldn't let me out of the house until I put them on. You're lucky you're one of my best friends Danny. You don't know how much my pride suffered for that." Danny couldn't help it; he laughed. And as he laughed Sam couldn't help feeling better about the whole thing too. Pretty soon she joined his laughter.

"Ok, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but you'd better have some kick ass movies, boy."

"Be my guest to look through them." Danny replied, showing Sam into the living room and pointing to a rack that held a worthy collection of DVD's and a few beloved videos. Danny left Sam to her own devices so he could go into the kitchen and find some snacks. When he returned to the living room with a bowl of popcorn and two sodas, Sam still hadn't made up her mind.

"What's this?" she asked, holding a movie out to him. Danny read the title on the case.

"_The_ _Village_," he replied.

"I know _that _smarty-pants," she retorted, hitting him playfully with said movie case. "I mean what's it about?"

"No clue, look it hasn't even been unwrapped yet."

"Should we watch it?"

"Why not?" Danny said, taking the case and trying to open it. Sam giggled at his efforts.

"Here, give it," she demanded after a few unsuccessful minutes. Danny handed the DVD over with a slight blush and watched as Sam slit the plastic covering with a finger nail and skillfully pulled off the stickers holding the case closed. The young boy sitting opposite her smiled sheepishly at her success where he failed.

"Oh my god," Danny said about two hours later once the movie had ended. "That was quite possibly one of the saddest excuses for a scary movie I have ever seen. I swear those 'evil' things looked like porcupines with camel faces."

Sam laughed in agreement. "Yeah, and what was up with sending out the blind girl as bait? Oh go into the forest to get something to help us. Sure, what they really meant was 'go into the forest and distract the creatures away from the rest of us,'" Sam said still giggling.

"Ok here's the thing," Danny began in a mock serious voice. "We have to ring the bell to let everyone know the creatures are here. Despite the fact that everyone is already hiding from them, we still need that bell. So, who's gonna get eaten this time?" By the end of Danny's fake dialogue Sam was shaking with uncontrollable laughter.

"And you know what gets me?" she cried after she'd caught her breath. "The creatures weren't even real all along. They were just villagers dressed up in costumes."

"That _is_ pretty pointless."

"I know, it reminds me of _Things Fall Apart _and _The Manchurian Candidate_. The main characters in those stories go through this huge struggle and then just kill themselves in the end. That's really stupid."

"What kind of author comes up with ideas like that?"

"Obviously those authors!" Sam replied and the pair started cracking up again. The effects of the soda they'd drunk were setting in and they were feeling a little hyper. They spent a good ten more minutes making fun of the movie, and then they collapsed against each other. Neither saw the other's blush at the contact. They gasped for air, their sides aching from so much laughter. Danny and Sam exchanged smiles, both wondering at the other's slightly pink face. It was just the effects of their laughter, right?

The rain still poured, flooding the streets and nearly overflowing the drains. But Danny and Sam enjoyed their day thoroughly. They played board games, card games, and did other rainy day activities. All was combined with several doses of hilarity and hyper-ness, particularly their game of Sorry in which Danny accompanied his attacks on Sam's pieces with loud sound-effects.

Of course, there was a great amount of blushing on both teens' parts. Sam didn't realize it at the time, but playing Slap Jack with the guy you had a crush on really _wasn't _the best idea if you were trying to keep your feelings quiet. It was hard to say which was more embarrassing: getting her hand caught under Danny's or having his under her's. Needless to say, Danny couldn't help blushing either. That got him to wondering again, like he had been that morning after Sam's phone call. Was it right for him to like Sam's hand on his? Furthermore, was it ok for them both to prolong the game just so these feelings would continue?

All too soon it was dinner time and Sam had to go home for the night. Danny knew it wasn't wise to try and convince Sam's parents to let her stay for dinner, so he bade her goodnight with a quick, shy hug and one of his boyishly cute smiles. He watched her walk away from his house and into the rain. When Sam rounded a corner and was out of sight, Danny turned back into the house. Suddenly he felt as if it was much colder and darker than it had been before Sam left.

AN: A silly, fluffy chapter. I hope you all didn't drown in it! Drop me a review and let me know how I'm doing.

Next Chapter Preview: I'm going on vacation and I'll be gone for a week, which means it'll be at least that long before chapter three is up. I've already gotten it written but it needs pre-editing and beta-editing. Anyway, it's going to be called If You Love Her Call Her on the Phone. (See a pattern yet? Lol.) Hope to see everyone there!


	3. Call Her on the Phone

AN: Sorry about the wait for this chapter everyone. I was gone for that one week and Cori and I have been playing e-mail tag trying to get this chapter edited for you guys. -laughs- Well, read on now, I'll try to get chapter four to you guys in about a week.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Danny Phantom, but if I did... well I'll just leave that to your imagination. -grin-

If You Love Her…

…Call Her on the Phone

Danny was in a rut. He couldn't for the life of him figure out the answer to the math problem sitting in front of him. No matter how many times he solved it, his answer didn't match up with the answer in the back of the book. Heck, his answers didn't even match up with each other! Danny was dangerously close to banging his head on the kitchen table in frustration. _One more time, _he told himself.

"Ok, so I'm looking for the angle," he muttered as he drew out the triangle yet again. "But it's not a 45-45-90 or a 30-60-90 so I'll have to use trig." He scribbled out the different options for trigonometry: sine, cosine, and tangent. _Was sine opposite over adjacent or hypotenuse? _Danny couldn't remember. To make matters worse, his notes were illegible; the ink had smeared in the rain that had continued on since the weekend. Now it was Tuesday, the rain as hard as ever, and Danny's homework was harder still.

The halfa sighed. There was no way he was going to be able to finish this on his own. And he couldn't ask Jazz for help. That would only encourage her to help him again later. It would also be a huge blow to his pride. Then it hit him: Sam. She had offered to tutor him if he needed help. Well, he wouldn't go so far as to say he needed tutoring, but he did need her help. So Danny got up from the table, pausing to glare at his math homework, and then made his way over to the kitchen phone.

A little nervous about calling Sam's house, Danny looked at the phone for a very long time. Danny knew Sam's parents didn't like him and he was scared that one of them might pick up and refuse to let him talk to her. That would be worse than not finishing his math. Steeling himself for the call, he remembered he had Sam's number memorized, though he'd never really called her much. She was always the one that called him; this realization made him kind of sad.

Danny shook his head at his lack of courage and finally picked up the receiver. He dialed the numbers quickly and listened to the phone ring. It rang for a long time. Danny began to fear no one would answer, but then a female voice picked up announcing, "Mason residence, the Mr. and Mrs. are not home right now. However, I would be pleased to take a message."

"Um, actually," Danny began, cursing his inarticulateness. "I was… I was wondering if I could talk to Sam."

"Samantha?" The maid seemed perplexed.

"Yes, I'm one of her friends." Danny said, a little more firmly.

"Very well sir, I will find the young mistress and let her know she has a phone call. Please hold until then." The line went silent. Danny waited for the maid to find Sam. He wondered why the maid thought it was so odd for someone to be calling for Sam. Then he reminded himself that if he didn't call Sam much, Tucker probably didn't either. His musings were cut off short by Sam's voice.

"Oh my god Danny!"

Well, that wasn't the greeting he had expected. "Uh… Sorry?" he said bewildered.

Sam laughed. "No, no I'm not angry at you. I'm sorry for you! I can't believe you called here."

"Well, why shouldn't I?" Danny asked sheepishly.

"Because it would be so much easier if you called my cell phone."

"Oh," Danny blushed feeling very stupid. "I forgot about that."

Sam burst out laughing again. "Danny you're so cute," she exclaimed. Danny blushed a deeper red on his end of the line as Sam giggled. "Anyway, whatcha calling for?" she asked.

"I need help… with math homework." God why did he have to be so pathetic? Not only had he risked rejection by calling Sam's house phone, now he was asking her for help too. In addition, he'd made a fool out of himself for forgetting about her cell phone.

"Which problem?" Sam asked, and Danny heard some rummaging as the girl looked for her own, probably finished, math homework.

"Um, hang on let me look." The halfa stretched the phone cord across the kitchen and over to the table. "Number twelve," he replied. "I keep on getting different answers, and they're never the same as the one in the book."

"What are you using to solve the problem?" Sam asked.

"Sine…" Danny said uncertainly.

"No wonder you're getting the wrong answer. You should be using cosine."

"My notes got smeared in the rain and I couldn't remember if sine was opposite over adjacent or opposite over hypotenuse."

"Danny you must have really short term memory; you have math sixth hour!" Sam teased.

"Well, I got through eleven problems on my own didn't I?" he retorted, trying to keep himself from feeling like a failure. Sam's laughter greeted his ears and his cheeks seared with heat again. He knew Sam wasn't laughing at _him_, but he was still embarrassed.

"Calm down, calm down," she soothed and Danny could almost see her waving her hand as she spoke. "Write this down," Sam commanded. Danny hastened to find a dry piece of paper and a pen to take notes with. "Sine is opposite over hypotenuse, cosine is adjacent over hypotenuse, and tangent is opposite over adjacent."

"Thanks Sam," Danny said sincerely.

"Is there anything else?" Sam asked helpfully.

"Well… could we just, you know, talk?"

"Danny, that's irresponsible!" she chided teasingly. "I gave you that information so you could do your homework."

"Yeah, but it's only four o'clock. I have plenty of time to get it done." Danny could imagine Sam shaking her head at him, but he knew she would give in.

"Alright, what do you want to talk about?"

"Do I have to have something to talk about?" Danny countered. "Why can't we just talk?"

Sam rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. Danny could be stubborn sometimes. She could never figure out why people would call each other without something to talk about. Not that Danny had ever done that before, but her mother had done it countless times. But she felt slightly touched that Danny wanted to talk to her in the first place. He, like most boys, wasn't very talkative.

"Where are your parents?" Danny asked, trying to start a conversation.

"They're celebrating my mom's birthday with a week long trip to the Caribbean."

"I wish I got a week long trip to celebrate my birthday." Danny said jealously.

"Don't we all?" Sam said.

"What, you mean they don't do that for you too?" he asked.

"Hardly, they usually forget my birthday completely. In all the years we've known each other, have you ever heard of me having a formal party?"

"Well, I figured your parents threw you one for you and your family."

Sam shook her head, though Danny couldn't see. "No, the gifts I get from them aren't even _from _them." she replied. "The servants go and buy me something my parents approve of and then they pretend like my parents got it for me."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I never knew how cold your parents could be."

"It doesn't really matter. That's why I have you and Tuck. You're all the warmth I need."

Danny found himself blushing again at Sam's words. He never knew that he and Tucker were so important to Sam. "Well, at least I'm good for something," Danny replied, trying to lighten the mood. He knew Sam was smiling at him, and hoped that meant they could move on to another topic. He didn't like to upset Sam and her parents were one of the big things that upset her.

"You're good for a lot of things Danny." Sam told him, but she didn't start on her self-esteem talk. Danny had heard it enough times to know it by heart. Not that it did any good. The halfa still kept putting himself down, like he couldn't see what an amazing person he was. Sam really wished there was someway of making him see what a gift he was to everyone around him.

"What about your parents?" Sam said after a silence. "Anything new going on with them?"

"Same old, same old," Danny replied. "They invented a new thing that attacked me in the middle of the night a few days ago. Some kind of roving ghost detector. It was _supposed _to knock me out, but you know how their inventions are."

Sam grinned. Hearing about Danny's silly family made her feel a lot better. "Hey Danny," she began on a sudden inspiration.

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed anything different between us lately?" she asked, a little bit more hesitantly than she meant to.

Danny was very quiet for a long time. He wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question because he didn't know what Sam meant. He did know that ever since the Ember incident his feelings for Sam had been skewed. And then there was that fake-out-make-out…

"Well, maybe a little bit," he said finally. "We've been hanging out alone a lot more than we used to. We're talking more, getting to know each other better. It's really nice." Danny felt he should tone down his actual feelings about what was changing between him and Sam. He thought that it was too early to tell what the shift was going to become. They could end up like brother and sister… or like boyfriend and girlfriend. He figured it was too soon to bring up his suspicions.

That wasn't the kind of answer Sam had expected. She didn't really think Danny had noticed any change. Not that he was oblivious –all the time— he just didn't think about things as much as she did. She had figured she was overanalyzing the differences, trying to make them seem like more than they were. But if Danny had noticed them too maybe there was hope. Maybe they could change from being just friends… No, it was too soon to think about that. A week of a little more time with Danny had made Sam impulsive. Best not say anything.

Soon enough the two friends were saying their goodbyes. Danny had to finish his homework and Sam had to deal with the servants. The servants needed money and her parents had neglected to pay them before they left. However, the conversation they had had kept floating back to the surface of their thoughts. Both teens knew that things would be even more different now that they had voiced their thoughts. But they also knew that change could be for the better, and both were willing to give these new feelings an honest chance.

AN: Another chapter down! 3 out of roughly 30. Are you guys excited? Cause I am! Hope to see ya's for chapter four, Danny plushies to all!

Next Chapter Preview: Like I said before, I'm gonna try to get this out in about a week, but if you're all nice to me I could pull a few strings and get it done sooner. -smiles- Up next in our DannySam saga: If You Love Her... Tell Her How Much You Admire Her. This is one of my favorites so far, so be here for it!


	4. Tell Her How You Admire Her

AN: OMG!! This is my favorite chapter so far! That said I'll let you get to reading. Just wanna shout out a thanks to Cori, my beta, and all my readers!

Disclaimer: I think you guys know the drill now... If I owned it, would I be writing fanfiction for my own creation?

If You Love Her…

…Tell Her How You Admire Her

Danny hovered outside Sam's bedroom window, peering inside to see if she was there. A couple days ago Sam's mother had caught him walking her home from school and all hell had broken loose. Of course she didn't know that this ritual had been taking place for almost the whole year now. If she did, Sam would be more than monitored. Sam would probably be confined to her bedroom and only allowed out to go to school. As it was, Sam's parents had taken to pestering her about where she went every time she left the house for more than twenty minutes at a time. Danny didn't want to make his friend deal with all this prying, so he had taken it upon himself to come to her.

The halfa waited outside Sam's window for a few more minutes before the beautiful young girl entered her room. She had her iPod headphones in her ears and was singing along to whatever song was playing. Danny stuck his head inside the window, keeping himself invisible for he knew that Sam would stop singing if she thought she was being overheard.

Danny was slightly surprised at the song Sam was singing. Lyrics from Andrew Lloyd Webber's _The Phantom of the Opera_ met his ears. At the moment, Sam was singing Christine's part.

"_Those who have seen your face, draw back in fear. I am the mask you wear…_" She lowered her voice to continue with the Phantom's part. "_It's me they hear. My spirit and your voice, in one combined. The phantom of the opera is there, inside your mind._"

Danny chose that moment to fully enter Sam's room and become visible once more. He changed back into his human form with just the slightest sound, but Sam felt the ghostly change. Whipping around quickly, she was already armed with her tube of lip-gloss that doubled as a ghost gun, when she realized it was Danny.

Danny laughed quietly while Sam turned her iPod off and set it on a nightstand.

"Don't scare me like that Danny!" she insisted. "What are you doing here anyway? If my parents come up—"

"I'll go ghost in about three seconds and then be invisible before they make it up the stairs." Danny interrupted. Sam sighed, but didn't disagree with him. Truthfully, she didn't care what her parents did to _her _if they found Danny in her room; she cared what they would do to _him_.

"You're a good singer Sam, I never knew that before." Danny tossed the compliment to her casually.

Sam's violet eyes widened. "You heard me singing? That was private Daniel Fenton!"

The young man shrugged and smiled teasingly as though he didn't care. "Then you shouldn't have done it out in the open like that," Danny said as he crossed the room to stand by his friend. Glaring, Sam punched him on the shoulder. Danny rubbed the spot where she'd hit him, giving her a kicked-puppy look. Eventually Danny's look got to her and Sam relented, the anger disappearing from her eyes, and she even smiled despite herself.

"So what's up?" she asked, plopping herself down on her oversized bed. Waving a hand, she motioned for Danny to join her.

He did so while replying, "I wanted to hang out with you, and seeing as you couldn't come to me, I came to you."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yeah, my parents are pretty stupid huh? They act like you had sex with me, not walked me to the front door."

Danny blushed at her comment. "To be fair, your parents are away a lot. They don't like me to begin with and they have no idea what you do when they're gone. That might very well be what they think," he said quietly, very aware of how warm his cheeks had become.

Sighing, Sam leaned back on her bed. "Don't defend them Danny, you'll make me sick."

Danny chuckled and leaned back as well so he and Sam were lying side by side. "It really is amazing, you know, the way you can put up with your parents," he told her, putting his hands behind his head and glancing over at her.

"You learn to live with difficult things," she replied.

"Have you ever thought about running away? There are plenty of places for you to go. My house for starters. Mom and Dad love you."

Sam giggled. "Yeah I have thought about that. And I'm sure Maddie and Jack would love for their teenaged son's best _girl _friend to move in with them."

The halfa blushed at her implications. "You could share a room with Jazz!" he defended hotly.

Sam continued laughing and rolled over to face Danny. "I know, I know, I'm just kidding. I'm sure your parents know you would never do anything they wouldn't like."

"Yeah, just like I'm not half ghost and lying to them about it," he replied sheepishly.

"Did they ever tell you _not _to go into the Fenton Portal?"

"Well no…"

"Then you've done nothing wrong Danny, it's just the principle you're afraid of. I'd be afraid in your position too, believe me."

"You know what Sam? You're really good at that," Danny said on a sudden thought.

"Good at what?" she asked slightly perplexed.

"I dunno, giving me pep talks. You never accuse me of doing or feeling something stupid."

"I don't think there's anything like feeling something stupid." Sam replied. "Now I must admit, some of the things you've done haven't been exactly smart, but I understand why you make the mistakes you do."

"You have a lot of free time on your hands if you can analyze my problems like that," Danny said grinning.

"What else is there to do while I'm cooped up in this house?"

"I guess what I'm trying to say is you're really caring. I really like that about you," the halfa explained, his blue eyes meeting Sam's purple eyes for the first time since the start of their conversation. When he was nervous Danny always had a tendency to not look people in the eye. But now Danny's eyes conveyed his sincerity to the shocked girl sitting next to him. "You don't have to worry about me and my problems, but you do," he continued. "You actually try to understand them too; even _I _don't do that."

Sam was silent for a time, unfamiliar with being complimented like this. The truth was that Sam just worried about Danny naturally. She thought about everything he did and the things he might feel a lot so she would be able to give him support when he needed it. In some part of her mind, Sam knew Danny would have a very hard time fighting ghosts without her help. Her help was different from Tucker's; moral support was just as important to a person as physical help. If Danny was to be believed, Sam was doing her job well.

Finally she said, "That's what friends are for, Danny. Your problems just happen to be bigger than the normal teenage drama. Honestly, I'd rather deal with ghost fighting than try to keep track of all the girlfriends you might have if we were normal."

"That wouldn't be too hard; you wouldn't even need one hand for the count," Danny replied. "Now if we were _normal _I'd be the one with the challenge. Keeping track of all your boyfriends would be a big job."

Hitting Danny's forehead playfully, Sam replied, "You don't really think that I would have a lot of boyfriends." It was almost a question.

"Actually I do," he told her seriously.

"Why on earth would you think something like that?" Surprise was in Sam's voice as she questioned her friend.

Danny's eyes were intense as he sat up and looked at Sam. Slowly sitting up as well, Sam returned his gaze. "You tell me I don't realize how great of a person I am," he began, "but I don't think you even begin to see how amazing you are."

"Danny don't be stupid, I—"

"You're so passionate about the things you care for Sam," he interrupted. "Me and Tuck, the animals you try to save, vegetarianism, _everything_. Not only that but you have brains to back things up with. You can convince other people think to the same way you do without forcing your beliefs on them. You're funny and spontaneous so there's never a dull moment with you." By this time both Sam and Danny were turning various shades of pink, but the halfa wasn't finished yet.

"Not only that but… you're also very pretty. You know, for those shallow guys who just care about looks. Not that I think you would ever date a guy like that, but there's a few more points to you. I'm really lucky to have you as a friend Sam. You're one of the most admirable people I know."

"Aw Danny," Sam said, and she threw herself into his arms.

Danny hugged her awkwardly. "Are you ok Sam?" he asked, blushing even darker now that his speech was over. He couldn't imagine what he had said to drive Sam into his embrace like that because she wasn't usually a very touchy-feely person.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, pulling back to look at him, her eyes shinning with gratitude. "You've just told me the nicest things I've ever heard about myself."

"R-really? I figured you knew all that stuff already." Danny told her shyly. Sam shook her head and hugged Danny again.

Suddenly there were footsteps on the stairs outside Sam's room. In seconds Sam was pressed against a cold, invisible Danny Phantom. Sam hastened to grab a magazine off her nightstand and was just flipping to a random page when the door opened.

"Sammy-kins?" Pamela Manson looked in the room to see her adolescent daughter reading a magazine with her cheeks slightly flushed.

Sam glanced up. "Knock much Mom?" she asked and went back to her page.

"Oh, oh I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure everything was ok up here. You've been awfully quiet about this whole thing."

"It's not like I have a choice," Sam retorted, feigning indifference while trying to ignore Danny's silent, but still distracting, laughter. Her back was still pressed to him and she struggled to keep her body from moving with his. It was even harder to keep her blush under control.

"Yes, well, have a good night then." Pamela closed the door without pausing to see if Sam would reply. Sam waited until she could no longer hear her mother's heels on the wooden stairs before launching a pillow towards where she thought Danny's head was. Turning visible at once, Danny grinned at his best friend. Sam realized that she had actually managed to hit him and smirked herself.

"You'd better go," she said after a moment, sliding off her bed and walking over to her window. She sat down on the window seat.

Danny glided over to her. "Why?" he asked, hovering near her head.

"My mother will probably be coming back soon. Next time we might not be quick enough. I need to play my role so she'll leave me alone the rest of the time I'm being monitored."

"Does that role entail loud metal music blasted at the top of your speakers?" Danny questioned knowingly.

"You guessed it," Sam replied.

"But I… I can come back, right?" the halfa asked unconfidently. "I mean later in the week when your parents are positive you're acting normal."

"Of course Danny, why wouldn't you be allowed to come back?" Danny shrugged, a light blush coming back to his cheeks. "You're always welcome in my room." Sam told him.

"Thanks Sam. I'll see ya at school then?"

"What a joy that will be… but yes, I will be there." Sam agreed. The pair laughed.

Danny drifted closer to the window. "Well, goodnight then, Sam," he said a little nervously.

"Goodnight Danny," Sam replied. She watched as her friend phased through her bedroom window and out into the starry sky. The rest of the night she couldn't stop reminding herself of all the things Danny had said about her. And every time she did a smile and a blush would come to her face. There was definitely something special about that boy.

AN: Sorry about the longer than normal wait for this chapter. I haven't be able to get on our desktop due to the fact that my dad and brother have been on it ALL the time and now it has a problem. I sent this chapter to my laptop in order to post it for you guys and I'm hoping our desktop will be fixed by the time I need to post the next chapter. Speaking of which...

Next Chapter Preview: If You Love Her... Tickle Her Till She Cries. Already written and pre-edited, but that doesn't mean it'll be out any sooner, especially with my desktop all messed up. -sweat drops- Not my favorite chapter, but I guess it's kinda cute... Hope to see you all next time!


	5. Tickle Her 'Til She Cries

AN: Hey guys, sorry it's been so long. Life can get to you sometimes, lol. Enjoy the new chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom... you know all that jazz.

If You Love Her...

…Tickle Her Till She Cries

It was lunch time on a Friday afternoon. This time of day at Casper High School was almost the craziest time of the whole week. It was topped only by the insane behavior on the bus rides home before the weekend. True, the school board almost encouraged the disorder by serving pizza during Friday lunches, and _only _Friday lunches. All the students raced to the cafeteria to get to lunch in time to grab a slice of pizza before it was all gone.

Arriving in the cafeteria, Danny and Sam pushed through the throng of people waiting in line for pizza, Tucker among them. Eventually they found their way to a table. Neither had any desire to wait in line for pizza, so Sam went to grab a salad and Danny bought a few things out of the vending machines. They met back at the table in about two minutes and glanced over to see Tucker's progress.

He had barely moved. Chuckling to themselves, Danny and Sam sat down together doubting very seriously that Tucker would be joining them. The tech-geek probably wouldn't even get pizza before lunch was over, and then everyone else would have to endure his complaints about being hungry. That would be ok in the long run since Tucker would probably drag his friends to the Nasty Burger to get food after school. This was fine with Danny and Sam since any chance to prolong going home on a Friday night was great, not to mention it was a pastime they had not recently observed.

Sam slowly shook her head at their dark-skinned friend. "He should give up. How many weeks has it been since he's actually managed to get a slice?" she asked, mocking clear in her voice.

Danny smiled. "That's hard to say. Has he _ever _managed to get a slice?" The pair laughed. Tucker could be such a slow learner sometimes.

Danny and Sam finished their food rather quickly and found themselves with considerable extra time before lunch ended. Sam was staring off into space, apparently deep in thought. Danny threw a potato chip at her.

"Hey!" she protested, throwing it back at him.

Danny grinned. "Too much thinking is bad for you Sam; we're supposed to be taking a break from that," he told her.

Sam shrugged. "Unfortunately for me, I can't shut my brain off on a mere whim. I think you have to be male in order to do that."

"Oh, that's a bit harsh Sam," Danny replied in fake hurt. He scooted closer to Sam's chair smiling mischievously. "I think I'll have to get back at you for that."

"What are you going to do?" the young girl asked, staring at her friend in defiance. She almost wanted to just tell Danny what she had been thinking about to see if it would make him leave her alone. However, Sam knew she wasn't going to pretend to be afraid of Danny or give into him; that's not the way she wanted to play his game. He didn't seem to mind though, he just continued smiling at her.

Danny suddenly dived for Sam's sides. He started tickling the exposed skin there and it was all Sam could do not to cry out with laughter. She knew she wouldn't be able to last very long though. Danny knew how ticklish she was. Not only that, but she didn't know how long she could endure the feeling of Danny's hands on her skin like this. The ghost-boy continued to tickle his friend, waiting for the sound of her laughter. He loved it when Sam laughed, especially if he was the one that caused it. Even if it was because he was taking a cheap shot by tickling her.

"Danny… please… stop," Sam gasped, still managing to hold her laughter in.

"Nope!" Danny replied cheerfully. Sam's sides started shaking in silent laughter now, but still he refused to relent.

"C'mon… people…will hear."

"No they won't." Danny squashed Sam's protest. "They're all too worked up over the pizza."

It was true. No one had so much as glanced their way since lunch began. Normally people would be all over this, saying it proved Danny and Sam were dating. Now Sam was laughing out loud. It had been several minutes since Danny had started tickling her and her sides were beginning to hurt from it. Still, she was by no means angry with him. In a weird way, she was having fun too. Tears came to her eyes from her laughter and she attempted to push Danny's hands away now. Chuckling as well, Danny let his hands drop onto Sam's heaving sides.

"That… wasn't very… nice Danny," she panted. He shrugged, pulling his hands away from her sides at last. He did so unwillingly; the warm, smooth skin of Sam's stomach had been pleasing to his touch. Until he removed his hands, Sam had been afraid Danny was going to start tickling her again. She had to admit, it had felt good to have his cool hands resting on her stomach for those few seconds. Pushing these thoughts aside, she glanced up at Danny who was staring down at her with playfulness in his eyes. This was a side of Danny she didn't often see, and she liked it. He didn't let himself have fun like this in public very much.

"Hey guys!" a voice said, making the pair of friends jump. It was Tucker. Somehow he'd managed to reach the front of the line and get his pizza. Lunch would be over in a few minutes, but that wouldn't be a problem for Tuck.

"How'd you get to the front of the line so quickly?" Danny asked, shifting his chair away from Sam's before Tucker could notice anything. Tucker noticed anyway, but he didn't comment. Contrary to what his friends thought, he had seen the changes that were taking place between them.

"I had to promise a ton of people that I'd do their homework if they let me cut in line," Tucker replied as though nothing had happened.

Sam rolled her eyes. "That's hardly worth it Tuck, that pizza isn't even very good," she said exasperatedly.

"It's worth it if I don't do their homework well," he replied with a knowing smile. "You see they didn't specify that it had to be 'A' material, they just want it done."

Sam shook her head. "And you wonder why you have so many enemies," the Goth girl said sarcastically. Tucker shrugged and finished his slice of pizza in about three bites. He was just wiping his mouth on the back of his hand when the bell rang, beckoning the teens back to class.

There was a collective moan from the front of the cafeteria. All the people who were still in line were waved away by lunch ladies. Some tried to protest, but others remembered the wrath of the ghost lunch lady and hurried away. They didn't know when she might make another appearance. Tucker, Sam, and Danny made their way to the doors out of the lunchroom. Tucker ran off hurriedly, reminding his friends in a rush that his next class was on the opposite side of the school. Danny and Sam watched their dark-skinned friend compete with the crowd to get down the hall, and soon enough his red beret was out of sight.

Danny and Sam took their time getting down the hallway. Lancer's class was not far from the lunchroom so they had plenty of time to get there. Gradually the halls began to empty as students went to their classes. The ghost-boy and the Goth girl walked side by side in the direction of Mr. Lancer's English classroom. Sam was spacing out again, Danny could tell from the far away look in her eyes. He didn't know why, but her lack of attention bothered him. What could she possibly be thinking about? It also hurt a little that her attention was so taken while he was there. But how was Danny to know that all of Sam's musings that day had focused on him?

Danny poked Sam's side to get her attention. She flinched and couldn't help the small squeak that passed through her lips. She stopped walking abruptly and Danny stood beside her, smiling teasingly.

"Don't you be starting that again," Sam ordered.

"I'm sorry… that _was _mean wasn't it?" Danny frowned, suddenly regretting what he had done. Not just poking her, but tickling her during lunch too.

"Danny, I was kidding when I called you mean at lunch!" Sam protested with a small sigh at his behavior. "You don't have to apologize. As weird as it may seem, I was having fun too. I like it when you… let yourself do things like that. When you don't worry about what other people think and just let yourself go, well it's just nice," she told him, blushing slightly as she admitted this.

"You meant that wasn't too weird and random for you?" Danny asked jokingly. "I thought you'd be a little upset with me actually… I've never done anything like that before." It was Danny's turn to blush guiltily as he remembered how he had liked touching Sam's bare skin.

Sam shrugged it off and told him not to worry about it as they started walking again. It seemed she hadn't noticed the way he'd blushed, otherwise she surely would have asked. The bell rang just as they were walking into Lancer's classroom. The pair hurried to their seats before their balding teacher could turn around. Mr. Lancer started the lesson, but Danny's mind was far from the book they were supposed to be reading. He was still wrapped up in thoughts of Sam, his feelings for her, and what the incident at lunch could possibly mean.

AN: I promise it won't be as long for the next update! Please review, they give me warm fuzzies :D

Next Chapter Preview: Flirt With Her! This chapter was so much fun to write. I'm gonna get it out to you guys asap because I love it so much! Laters ;)


	6. Flirt With Her

AN: This is another one of my favorite chapters, so enjoy! Also, you get a special prize if you can guess what is ironic about the Biology teacher's name. ;)

Disclaimer: I wish I was cool enough to own Danny Phantom... but sadly that right belongs only to Butch Hartman.

If You Love Her…

…Flirt with Her

Saturday and Sunday had passed far too fast for anyone's liking. Monday was already here, and it was a typical Monday indeed. Everyone was sluggish and quiet, still half asleep for at least the first two hours of the school day. Danny was feeling the Monday Blues as much as anyone else as he struggled to stay awake in his first hour history class. Damn Ms. Falwe for showing a movie on a Monday morning! She was just asking for her students to fall asleep. By the next hour Danny, and most of the other students, had gotten themselves together. Second hour meant Biology with Sam, and Danny didn't want to be half conscious for that.

When Danny arrived at the classroom, Sam was already there. She was smiling and bright, and Danny envied her for being a morning person. Like almost everyone else, he was dressed in his grungy best and his hair looked horrible. Or at least, more horrible than it usually did. Feeling a little self-conscious, Danny sat down next to Sam at their shared lab table.

"Morning Danny," Sam greeted him. "You look like you just got out of bed."

"Ms. Falwe showed a movie last hour," Danny replied, rubbing his eyes. Glancing over at Sam, he noticed that she was wearing different clothes than she normally did. Her characteristic plaid skirt and black tank-top were gone, replaced with form-fitting jeans and an Evanescence T-shirt. To some people it would seem like Sam was drabbing down as well, but Danny didn't think so. It was rare to see Sam change what she wore, especially at school. Danny liked it.

"What are you staring at?" Sam interrupted Danny's thoughts as she waved a hand in front of his face.

"You," he answered honestly. "You look really nice today."

Sam let her hand fall to the table in slight disbelief. She hadn't expected Danny, of all people, to be the first one to comment on her new clothes. A blush was rising on her cheeks, she could feel it, so she turned her head and tried to hide behind her hair. Danny blinked. Sam was blushing. _Blushing_. At what _he _had said. And it was so cute that Danny had a wild urge to make it happen again. The bell rang as Danny contemplated ways to get Sam to blush like that again.

Mr. Stolon called the class to attention. "Today we have a lesson that I think you will all enjoy." he told the teens with a smile. He turned to the dry erase board and wrote 'sexual selection' on it. "Now, we've been talking about natural selection and how the species that is best able to reproduce and obtain food will survive. Contrary to what some of you might think animals _do _care who their mate is." There was some scattered laughter among the students. Mr. Stolon continued, "This selection of a mate is known as sexual selection and it focuses on one main area." He wrote 'physical characteristics' under sexual selection.

Danny really couldn't believe this. This was _utterly_ embarrassing. It was nearly impossible to learn about what makes animals want to mate with each other while sitting next to the girl he may or may not have a crush on. Mr. Stolon was talking about birds now and how the males in the species were usually brightly colored to attract females. Danny looked down at himself. He was wearing a baggy, gray hoodie and some faded blue jeans that were tattered on the bottom from where he'd stepped on them. All in all, he didn't look like much that would attract a girl.

Staring pointedly at the dry erase board, Sam knew she had to force herself not to look over at Danny. If she did, she would start blushing again. It was hard enough not to already. Sam couldn't stop thoughts of why she was attracted to Danny from floating into her brain. _He's cute, he's nice, he's funny, he's sweet... no stop it Sam! Get a grip or everyone will be wondering why you're so flushed. _

The lesson couldn't end quickly enough for Danny and Sam. Usually Danny liked listening to Mr. Stolon teach. He was good at what he did, and it helped that Danny enjoyed science. However it was very hard to listen to a lecture like today's with Sam not even two feet away from him. Poor Sam had heard every word of the teacher's lesson and everything Mr. Stolon had said left her with very inappropriate thoughts towards the boy sitting next to her. Sam's face turned slightly pink and she glanced over at Danny despite herself. Luckily he didn't notice.

Finally the bell rang and they were dismissed to go to their next class. Sam accompanied Danny to his locker to get his books. Both teens were still flustered by what had happened in science class and avoided looking directly at each other. Danny glanced over at Sam and she was blushing again. He remembered his foolish desire to get her to blush again. But this blush wasn't the same as the one he'd gotten from her when he'd complimented her clothes that morning. Danny sighed as he kneeled down to open his half-locker.

"Danny?" Sam asked from behind him. "What's up?" She had heard his sigh and wondered what was bothering him.

"I dunno… Mr. Stolon's class was a little weird today, that's all. I'm annoyed with myself for letting it get to me."

"Oh," the Goth girl replied. She didn't want to talk about Mr. Stolon's lecture either.

Danny noticed Sam's reluctance and tried to change the subject. He settled back on her clothes because complimenting them had worked well before. Maybe he could take her mind off the lesson, though he wondered why it was pestering her too. "You really do look nice today Sam. What made you wanna dress up today?"

Sam gave a small laugh. "I'm not dressed up Danny; I'm wearing jeans and a T-shirt, just like everyone else." She noticed right away that wasn't what Danny wanted to hear. As she watched, his shoulders slumped a little bit and he stuck his head back into his locker. Sam bit her lip and tried to think of something to lighten the mood. She reached out and mussed Danny's hair. "What about you? Having a bad hair day?"

Danny smiled slightly after he got over his shock at Sam's sudden touch. "Do I ever have a _good_ hair day?"

"Some days are better than others," Sam replied, "but I like your messy hair, I think it's cute." The words were out of her mouth before Sam could stop them. Danny looked back up at her quizzically and she blushed. She smiled awkwardly at him and he turned back to his locker.

"Well in that case," Danny began, still looking away from Sam, "I've always thought your lipstick is really pretty. It makes a guy wonder sometimes, you know? Are your lips even pink underneath the make-up or have they just been dyed purple after all these years?"

"How were you planning to find out?" Sam asked, a little breathless. Danny paid attention to her lips?

"Well I dunno…" Danny said it before he could talk himself out of it. "Maybe I'd just have to kiss you."

The blush on Sam's face flared up again and her heart started pounding wildly. Just as she was trying to think how to reply, the bell rang. "Shit, we're gonna be late," she said. Neither Danny nor Sam had noticed the time passing as they bantered back and forth. "I-I gotta go Danny, see you at lunch!" Sam threw over her shoulder as she hurried off to the bathroom. She needed to do _something _to get rid of the blush before everyone saw it.

Danny remained on the floor staring after Sam for a few seconds. Then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing and zipped his backpack close. Standing up, he hurried off to class with his head replaying the conversation he had just had with Sam. How could he have said that stuff? It was seriously bold and stupid. Danny was surprised Sam hadn't punched him for it. Instead she had blushed again. That was so strange. Did Sam like him, just as all his friends and relatives had been telling him? No, it was more likely that she was simply embarrassed that all those compliments had come from a friend and not the guy she liked.

It was hard for Sam to focus in her third hour class. She just _couldn't _stop herself from thinking about what Danny had said. 'Maybe I'd just have to kiss you.' Her heart trembled every time she thought about it, which meant her heart was trembling pretty much all hour. Anxiety set in as Sam wondered what would happen with Danny at lunch. Would he still be in that weird, almost flirtatious mood? Danny had said some pretty gutsy things earlier, but it seemed to Sam they were slip-ups. She was willing to bet that her friend would have never said anything like that in front of someone else. So Tucker would be a road block at lunch… but if the tech-geek wasn't there? Who could know what Danny might accidently say next?

Danny greeted Sam at lunch with a small tug on her pony-tail and a strange smile. It seemed as if he was still in that bizarre mood. Before Sam could react, the halfa was already headed towards an open table in the back of the lunchroom. Sam could see a brown bag lunch, courtesy of his mother, in his left hand. Shaking herself mentally, Sam proceeded to the lunch line to get a salad. Half of her was hoping that Tucker would show up and she would be spared an embarrassing lunch. The other half was begging the tech-geek to stay away so she could be alone with Danny. As Sam neared the table with her food, she found that her second half had been answered. Danny still sat alone at the table, and there was no sign of Tuck anywhere in the cafeteria. What was up with her recently spending so many lunches alone with Danny?

"Where's Tucker?" Sam asked as she sat down next to Danny. On any normal day that would be the first thing that popped into her mind and Sam figured it was best to act like nothing had happened earlier.

Danny shrugged. "I think he got into some trouble with Lancer. He sent me a text saying 'not gonna be at lunch. Lancer.'" The halfa picked up his sandwich and took a bite out of it, but his eyes were still trained on Sam.

Sam couldn't help herself, she had to ask. "Danny what the hell did you mean earlier?"

"What did I mean about what?" Danny replied, playing dumb. But he knew Sam wouldn't miss the small smile on his face.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Sam said exasperatedly. "You know, about you having to kiss me."

Turning the focus back on Sam, Danny intoned, "Why does it matter? Do you _want_ me to kiss you or something?"

Sam turned scarlet. "Well, I… I just wondered you know? Because… because we're just friends and, and that was weird for you to say..." she stuttered and trailed off.

"It shouldn't be weird if we're just friends Sam." Danny replied, smiling, knowing he was playing with Sam's mind. Since when could he drive a girl insane like this? The halfa couldn't remember, but he was going to use it to his advantage.

Sam fell silent. Was it true what Danny said? Would their conversation seem normal to any other pair of friends? Was it only weird because she liked Danny? Sam thought quickly to try and stop Danny from bogging her down. "_Are_ we just friends, Danny?"

The ghost-boy hadn't expected that question. His surprise slowed him down and he took a moment to think about what he would say next. It was hard for him to tell if Sam was just joining in on his banter or if she was really asking him if he liked her or not. "That's a good question isn't it?" Danny finally whispered.

Sam was shocked. Danny hadn't answered her question, but he also hadn't denied liking her the way he used to. Numbly, she opened a packet of salad dressing and started to eat her lunch. Next to her Danny did the same. They finished their food in silence, both lost in thought. Sam stood up to throw away her trash when she couldn't bear the provocative atmosphere any longer. As she walked away, Danny muttered, "I don't have the answer to your question, but I'm willing to figure it out."

AN: Well there it is everyone, my little gift to you on this special weekend! Why is it special? Cause it's Homecoming weekend! -dances- Now you guys should return the favor. Give me the gift of reviews! :P

Next Chapter Preview: If You Love Her... Wrestle With Her. This one should be fun, I've already got some ideas for it. Tennis is in season until the end of September so updates will still be slow. Sorry guys!


	7. Wrestle With Her

AN: Been forever, I know, but I'm not going to make excuses cause I know no one really wants to hear them. I'll try to be better about posting more frequently. Also, I did not get this chapter edited because I wanted to post it as soon as I was finished so please excuse any mistakes I may have missed...

Disclaimer: I only own Danny Phantom in my dreams, and sometimes even then they come and take it from me. :'(

If You Love Her…

…Wrestle with Her

It had been weeks, maybe even a month, since Danny and Tucker had gone to Sam's house to hang out. This was due, in part, to the fact that Sam's comings and goings were still being heavily monitored by her parents. The other reason Danny and Tucker hadn't been to Sam's house for so long was simply because her parents hadn't been going out of town for more than a couple days at a time. However it seemed that Sam's apparent good behavior had lulled them into a false sense of security. Sam had had to contain her pleasure when her parents announced that they were leaving for a week long trip the next day.

Tuck and Danny had definitely noticed something good had happened when Sam greeted them on Wednesday morning. The Goth girl just did _not _look that happy upon arriving at school at seven o'clock in the morning everyday.

"What's up Sam?" Danny asked before she could say anything.

Sam couldn't pretend like Danny's question hadn't affected her. It shouldn't have, but it seemed that after what had happened two days before it was impossible for Danny to open his mouth without Sam getting excited. Her heart beat a little harder as she hastened to answer Danny's question. "My parents are leaving this afternoon to go on a business trip!" she replied, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.

"Seriously?" Tucker asked, also excited. It had been too long since he'd gotten to visit his secret love: Sam's basement entertainment center.

"Yeah," Sam continued, "They're gonna be gone for a whole week so we can gear up for an awesome weekend at my house."

"Why wait for the weekend?" Danny interjected suddenly. His friends turned to look at him and Danny flushed slightly. Apparently a little _too_ much desire had been put into the comment. His thoughts had been along the lines of not wanting to wait until the weekend to spend some time with Sam and Tucker. Though, his guilty conscious reminded him, mostly Sam. "I mean, we'd have time after school to hang out today, wouldn't we?" he added as an after thought.

"Yeah, Danny's right," Tucker agreed, "We could have a 'Sam's parents are finally going out of town again' party. By the way, why did they stick around here for so long? Usually they sit still about as well as my three year old cousin." Uneasy laughter followed Tucker's comment. The tech-geek looked up to see his friends' cheeks slightly pink. He smiled, but sighed a little mentally. What had happened _this_ time?

Danny answered while rubbing the back of his neck. "You know how Sam's parents really don't like me, so you can imagine they pretty much freaked out when they caught me walking Sam home from school."

Tucker laughed. "But you've been doing that for ages. Besides, I'd do it too if Sam's house was near mine. It doesn't have to _mean _something." He leaned back against the lockers to enjoy the embarrassed looks on Danny's and Sam's faces.

Sam cleared her throat. "Yeah, so, anyway my parents have been hanging around awhile to make sure I behave. 'None of that Fenton boy!'" she quoted with a wry smile.

"And I'm sure that worked out well." Tuck said sarcastically.

"As far as they know." Danny replied, smiling and causing his friends to laugh. "Anyway, what should we do tonight?" he asked, trying to change the topic. It always made Danny more nervous when Tucker started hinting at him and Sam liking each other. It made him wonder if he was being totally obvious about his (maybe?) crush on Sam. It also made him wonder about the possibilities that might arise should he start to date Sam. These wonderings were dangerous.

"That depends on what you guys wanna do over the weekend." Sam said. "Should we make tonight a bowling night or save that for the weekend?"

"Weekend!" the boys said together.

Sam sighed, but smiled at the same time as Tucker and Danny started discussing having a bowling tournament at her house over Friday and Saturday night. Some things never changed. No matter how close she and Danny got, Tuck was still Danny's best friend. This thought didn't make Sam sad; it just made her smile a little more. It was good to know that Danny would always have a friend to back him up, regardless of what happened between him and her. Sam didn't have time to wonder what thatthought meant, because Danny and Tucker were now looking pointedly at her. She met their eyes in a look that clearly showed she hadn't been listening.

"Jeeze Sam, what's with you and spacing out like that?" Tucker asked rolling his dark brown eyes.

Sam shrugged. "Anyway what were you guys saying?"

"Tell her Danny, it was your idea."

Danny blushed. "Well, I just thought that we could all stay the night at your house on Friday. You've got plenty of extra space and Tuck and I could tell our parents we were spending the night at each other's houses so we wouldn't get in trouble."

"Fine by me," Sam replied, feigning nonchalance when really her heart was pounding again. Danny was going to spend the night at her house!

Tucker and Danny called their parents after school and told them that they were going over to Sam's house to study and then hang out. Jack, clueless as a father could be, smiled and congratulated Danny on getting Sam to help him with school work. Maddie, however, knew exactly what was going on when her husband explain the situation to her. Likewise Tucker's mother knew that no real studying was going to be happening.

The boys started to continue their morning discussion of the bowling tournament on the way to Sam's house. It wouldn't be much of a contest for the winner, seeing as Sam was much better than the two of them, but Danny and Tuck were almost evenly matched. It was always fun to find out who would come in second. Sam interrupted them after a few minutes, however.

"Hey, instead of talking about what we're gonna do Friday, how about we talk about tonight?" she suggested with a smile.

The guys fell silent and looked at her. "Sorry Sam, we haven't really been thinking about what _you _want to do." Danny said. "Why don't you pick for tonight?"

Sam laughed. "I don't really care what we do, that's not the point I was trying to make. Anyway, we got some new movies so why don't we look at those?"

Danny and Tucker nodded and started to talk about various new action movies that had come out recently. Sam joined in on this conversation.

"I'd like to see Iron Man again." Danny said, "That just came out on DVD."

"Or…" Sam began, drawing the word out and causing the boys to look up expectantly.

"Or what?" Tucker finally asked, too impatient to let the silence last.

"Or we could watch the Dark Knight."

"No way!" The boys yelled.

"Dude, you can't be serious. That _just _got out of the theaters!" Tucker exclaimed.

"My dad has a friend who employed the camera crew." Sam said with a shrug. They had arrived at her house now and she was digging the keys out of her backpack as they walked to the front door.

"That's awesome." Danny said, "I can't wait to see it again. I was gonna go see it a second time with my parents, but there were some ghost problems." He couldn't help laughing, and feeling slightly guilty, as his friends nodded in understanding.

Sam unlocked the door and had barely managed to get in the doorway before her friends were pushing in after her. She laughed and grabbed the back of their shirts before they could escape to the basement. "I'm gonna get us some snacks, so don't touch anything. No, not even you Tucker." Sam said in response to Tucker's hopeful look. The girl only let the boys go when they had promised not to touch anything.

Sam smiled as she watched her friends disappear downstairs. She hadn't realized how much the three of them missed hanging out together. True, part of the allure was her house, but Sam knew that what Danny and Tuck really missed was being able to hang out all together. They couldn't really get that kind of time anywhere else since both Tucker and Danny had nosy family members. Not to mention the fact that they might get attacked by some stray ghost-catching device at Danny's house.

Meanwhile Danny and Tucker were sitting on the couch having a hard time keeping their promise to Sam. Everything down in the basement was just so _shiny_. The look on Tucker's face was almost painful as he stared at the new systems that had been installed.

Danny laughed at the tech-geek. "Sam should have known better than to leave you down here alone."

"I do know better than that." Sam's voice replied from the stairs. She appeared a few seconds later carrying a huge bowl of cheese popcorn and a six-pack of sodas. "I just figured you, of all people, would be able to stop him." she continued with a pointed smile.

"What was I supposed to do?" Danny asked, grinning and hurrying over to help Sam. "Use my ghost powers on him?"

"If that's what it took, yes." The Goth replied, sending Tucker an evil look.

"Show me how to work it now!" Tuck begged, ignoring his friends' conversation.

Sam sighed and showed Tucker how to set up the high-def television,blue-ray disc player, and surround-sound speaker system. It took a lot longer than it should have for them to get the movie playing since Tucker made Sam explain _everything _about the new system. It was strangely fun, however, just being together and freaking out over stupid things. The three threw popcorn at each other while waiting for the copyright warnings to go away, and they mocked Batman's groupies and his weird voice. It took a little while for them to calm down enough to really watch the movie. However once they were engrossed in the movie they kept quiet.

It wasn't until late into the movie when a change finally took place. Sam's thoughts started drifting from the actual plot of the story. She started comparing herself to the girl, Rachel, in the movie. After all Sam was in love with a hero too, but was also very confused about it. As the story progressed however, Sam didn't like her comparisons as much. She hadn't really thought about how Danny's enemies might try to hurt him through her and Tucker. So when Rachel was set in a warehouse to be killed, Sam couldn't bare to watch anymore. She clicked the 'forward' button on the remote and tried to look innocent. The boys noticed, of course.

"Hey what happened?" Tucker asked, pausing with his hand halfway in the popcorn bowl.

"Is there something wrong with the disc?" Danny added.

Sam decided to tell them the truth, most of it anyway. "I don't like that part, so I skipped it."

"Aw c'mon, there's nothing wrong with it!" protested Tucker.

"Since when do you get to decide which parts you don't like?" The halfa asked in a teasing voice.

"Since I have the remote." Sam replied, waving it in front of his face.

Danny, who was beside Sam, made a grab for the remote. She pulled it quickly out of his reach and held it at arm's length behind her back. Attempting to throw himself around Sam's body, Danny made another lunge for the controller. Sam pulled it away again, but also ended up with Danny half in her lap. Switching the remote to her other hand, Sam tried to ignore the fact that she and Danny were now in a very compromising position and that Tucker was watching.

It seemed that Danny, too, was noticing their position, or maybe he was just trying to think of what to do next. Either way, it gained him the upper hand… sorta. He used his legs to push off against the back of the couch while pushing Sam's body with his chest. The result was that the pair ended up in a heap on the ground with Danny sitting on Sam's legs and his left arm pinned underneath her side. He grabbed for the remote with his right hand, but his arm wasn't long enough.

Sam laughed when she realized that Danny couldn't reach and she attempted to slide her legs out from under him.

"No way Sam," he challenged. It was true that Danny had an advantage in this situation because of all his ghost fighting. He had had to teach himself self-defense in a matter of months in order to survive the ghost attacks. Time had only made him better at fighting and now that Danny was used to having his powers he was more than a worthy opponent. Sam didn't measure up to him at all physically, but she could think her way out of the trap she was in.

Sam started to move one leg deftly, feeling her way out from under Danny. He was quick to put his weight on the leg she was moving to try and stop her. Sam knew that was exactly what he would do, so while he was preoccupied with restraining her left leg, she swung her right leg out from under him and around his waist. She then used her momentum to push Danny's body over so _she_ was the one pinning _him_.

"Ooof," Danny grunted as Sam's maneuver knocked the air out of him momentarily. "Nice one, didn't see that coming."

"You can be just as successful in a fight through thinking as through strength." Sam replied, grinning. "Now do you really want to continue this?" she asked, half-glancing in Tucker's direction, wondering why he was being so quiet.

Danny propped himself up on his arms so he could be face to face with Sam. Her weight was still pinning his legs so it was a little awkward, but it would suit his purposes. He leaned in close to whisper in Sam's ear. He thought he heard Sam's breath hitch, but that might just be a result of their wrestling. "I'll only stop if you want me to." he answered.

Sam's heart had started pounding as soon as Danny started to lean in closer. When his breath fell on her sensitive ear, she shivered slightly, and hoped Danny didn't notice. This was almost the same feeling she'd had when Danny had flirted with her in school the other day. Only these feelings were much more intense because they were virtually alone. This situation held so much more _promise_. Sam blushed at her own imagination. Danny didn't pull away as quickly as she expected him to. It was almost as if he was gauging her reaction to his teasing. Sam was too flustered to answer him, she just stuttered out something unintelligible. "Um… uh…"

Luckily Tucker chose that time to intervene. "C'mon you two, stop flirting and put the movie back on!"

Danny started slightly underneath Sam, having almost forgotten his best friend was there. Now that he realized Tuck had been watching he blushed deeply. He slowly shifted his body out from under Sam, who was still sitting there looking a bit shocked. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Danny wondered. Once Danny had untangled himself from Sam, he kneeled down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. He gave her one of his boyishly cute smiles that was tinged with an apology, but his eyes were still playful.

Sam was as mixed up as Danny's expression as she stood to join the boys on the couch once again. Surprisingly, the movie was still paused in the same spot it had been before Sam and Danny had started wrestling. Sam pressed the play button and lay the remote beside her on the couch. Sometime during the end of the movie, Danny picked it up, smiling to himself. When the movie was over and Tucker was packing up his things, Danny walked over to Sam.

"I win," he told her, pressing the remote into her small hand.

"You may have won the battle, but the war is far from over." Sam retorted. She didn't know if she meant actual, physical fighting like what had taken place that night or if she meant the flirting war that Danny had started on Monday and she had continued.

Danny laughed quietly. "I figured as much. I'm looking forward to the next one. See you this weekend." he said, giving Sam a sly smile.

After watching Danny and Tucker disappear upstairs, Sam sank into the couch once again. She sat there for a long time just thinking about Danny and everything that had been happening between them. Sighing, she wished that she could believe her own memories. She was bias in her memories, she was sure. The things they pointed to couldn't be true. Then again, they could be. Sam couldn't tell. She just _didn't_ know. Perhaps some of her questions would be answered this weekend.

AN: I'm pretty excited about the next few chapters. I'm not sure how they'll turn out cause I haven't started them yet. *cowers in case things are being thrown* Yes I know, shame on me. I'm sorry. I should have free time this weekend.

Next Chapter Preview: If You Love Her... Pick Her Up and Swing Her Around. This one should be cute. I have a few vauge ideas on how I'll go about writing it. Will be out asap! :D


	8. Pick Her Up and Swing Her Around

AN: Hello everyone, had you given up on me yet? I know I'm horrible for not updating but I hit a snag in the story I couldn't get around. I finally pushed through thanks to readers requesting that I finish this story. Thanks for riding my butt guys. :)

Disclaimer: Still don't own Danny Phantom

If You Love Her…

…Pick Her Up and Swing Her Around

Sam awoke to the blaring of her alarm clock, but for once its beeping meant something good. It was finally Friday! Danny and Tucker would be spending the night tonight and, as if the Gods wished it, her classes would be easy, perhaps even enjoyable today. The Goth girl stretched and climbed out of bed, actually looking forward to the school day. It was slightly crazy what Danny could unknowingly make her enjoy. Sure, befriending Danny and Tucker in middle school had made going _bearable _but it wasn't until freshman year that Sam actually connected school with Danny. That was when her crush went off the deep end. The only reason Danny didn't notice it was because he was infatuated with Paulina. However, Tucker _had _noticed, damn him, so Sam had had to learn how to rein in her emotions a bit. She hadn't wanted the tech-geek getting suspicious and making Danny suspicious in turn.

Musing over these thoughts as she got dressed, Sam smiled wryly at her reflection in the full length mirror. Perhaps it would have been better for her to continue to wear her heart on her sleeve; maybe Danny would have noticed after he got over Paulina. Sam reflected, however, that her friendship with Danny was too precious. She didn't _want _him to know that she had a crush on him because if he didn't like her back it would make everything awkward between them. Then again, who was she to say that Danny _didn't _like her? If Sam had been watching her and Danny's situation from an outside position, she would definitely think that Danny liked her. Try as she might, she couldn't convince herself of that fact. Then again, all the details pointed towards that conclusion. Sam sighed at herself; she was getting nowhere wondering over these things. She pulled herself away from the mirror and finished getting ready for school.

School _was_ rather enjoyable for the three friends. Danny and Sam got to work together in a lab during Biology. In gym, the only class the three shared, they got put on the same dodge-ball team and won the game. All in all it was a pretty good day as far as school days go, especially considering what was waiting for them after the final bell rang. The trio met up at Danny's locker, which was a halfway point between all of their sixth hour classes.

"So you guys need to go to each other's houses to get stuff and I'll set up the bowling?" Sam asked, but really she was planning out loud.

"Yeah," the boys replied.

"And if either of our parents asks about Sam…" Tucker began.

"We'll tell them that she got in trouble for something stupid, again, and can't hang out." Danny finished.

"Wait, again?" Sam protested playfully. "You've given your parents that excuse before?"

"Sometimes it wasn't actually an excuse, sometimes it was the truth. That's the beauty of this lie." Tucker replied.

Everyone laughed at Tuck's logic, which was actually logical this time. Danny finished packing his backpack with homework and they all continued on to make stops at Sam's and Tucker's lockers. While they were chatting loudly and about random things, Sam had a wild urge, and looped arms with her two best friends. They paused for a moment and Sam feared they would make a scene, but then they continued talking like nothing had happened. It felt strangely nice for all of them to be able to show the world how close they were without saying anything.

At the intersection between their houses, Sam let the boys go so they could head to Tucker's house first. The silence that accompanied her on her way home was not lonely, however. This was a good kind of silence, a silence that was practically trembling with the same excitement Sam had. It was like a dramatic pause in a movie or play right before the detective reveals who the killer was or right after the boy proposes and is waiting for his lover's answer.

As soon as Tucker and Danny had made their way down the street far enough so as to be out of sight and ear of Sam, Tucker shoved Danny good-naturedly, a teasing light in his eyes.

"What was that for?" Danny asked but feeling he knew what was coming next.

"That was your push in the right direction." Tuck replied with a sly smile. "It's not hard to see that things are heating up between you and Sam. She told me about how you flirted with her on Monday."

"Huh?" the halfa looked at the tech-geek in disbelief. "She told you about that?"

Tucker smiled to himself. A few months ago, Danny would have denied flirting with Sam in the first place. This was definitely progress. "What do you mean 'huh'? I'm Sam's friend too and she tells me stuff; especially stuff that has to do with you. Obviously she can't tell you those things."

Danny's face was turning pink as he admitted to Tucker, "I felt like such an idiot afterwards. I'm just glad she didn't punch me in the face."

"Why, what did you say to her?"

"Well she was telling me that she liked my messy hair so I told her that I liked her purple lip-stick but it made me wonder whether or not her lips had just turned purple over the years and she asked how I was going to find out and I told her that maybe I'd just have to kiss her." Danny replied in one breath.

Tucker couldn't help it, he busted up laughing. "Aw man that's priceless. She _would _have punched you if you were anyone else, I'm sure of it."

"Guess it's a good thing I'm not anyone else then." the halfa said quietly, his blush deepening. Danny wasn't used to talking to Tucker so openly about his situation with Sam. In fact, he didn't think they had _ever _talked about it like this before. While Danny wasn't surprised Sam had told Tucker some things, he was surprised that Tucker had decided to bring it up. As guys they tended to save their feeling conversations for Sam. Yet Danny was glad for Tucker's support, although he would never admit how glad.

The boys reached the Foley residence and Tuck left Danny to explain to his mother what was going on for the night. It took a lot for Danny to lie convincingly, but somehow he managed it and soon enough they were on their way to Fenton Works. Luckily for Danny, his mother was not the one that greeted him at the door. Jack listened to Danny's explanation with half an ear, as he was trying to figure out why his latest creation was beside itself, making a tremendous amount of noise, now that Danny had entered the room.

"Thanks for the support, Tuck." Danny teased when he finally made it to his bedroom.

"I would have helped if Maddie was home." Tucker retorted jokingly. "You need some practice lying Danny. It wouldn't help you if I lied for you."

"Whatever," he replied with a small smile and began shoving things into a duffel bag.

The boys escaped before Jack could accost them with questions about his ghost-device, which had resumed its noise making when Danny came downstairs.

"_Finally_," was Sam's greeting when she answered the door and found the boys on her porch.

"Impatient?" Tucker asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Very, now let's go!" Sam declared, grabbed the boys by their arms and dragging them downstairs. They had to laugh at this irony because just two days before she had been restraining them from going to the basement.

When Sam relinquished her grip on their arms, Danny and Tucker looked around to see that Sam had already set everything up. Danny was up to bowl first so he grabbed the blue ball Sam had picked out for him.

"Wait, take your shoes off." Sam said quickly.

Danny slipped out of his shoes and threw the ball down the alley. He hit seven pins down on the first try and then two more. Tucker went next and hit eight pins all together. Sam got a spare. The boys accused her of cheating good-naturedly, but they all knew Sam would win. They played for about an hour longer and finally they were at the last frame. Sam was ahead by a significant amount, but Danny and Tucker were only nine pins apart, Tucker bringing up the rear. If Tucker got a spare or a strike, he could win second place.

Once again, Danny went first.

Tucker crossed his fingers. "Please get a gutter, please get a gutter."

"That's not very nice," laughed Sam. "Some best friend you are."

"I know, right?" Danny had returned and caught the end of Tucker and Sam's conversation.

"I won't look at the board until after I bowl." Tucker promised, mostly to himself.

"You can't look either, Danny!" Sam decided, covering his eyes with her hands.

"Whoa Sam, stop I'll fall over! You know how clumsy I am."

Sam giggled. "Yes I know, but if you just hold still you won't fall."

So Danny tried to stand as still as possible, with Sam behind him, perched on her tip-toes so she could reach his eyes. They heard Tucker's ball strike the pins and then the pins toppling over. He walked back to retrieve his ball and bowled again, more pins falling down.

"C'mon Tuck, it shouldn't take that long." Danny called in the direction he thought his friend was.

"I'm building dramatic tension." Tucker replied. Finally the tech-geek walked back to his friends and turned around to look at the score board. "Aw man, that's just not fair!"

Sam pulled her hands away from Danny's eyes so he could see what Tucker was complaining about. The score board declared that Danny had won by three pins.

"Yes!" Danny cheered, pumping his fist in victory. He turned to Sam, who was still standing behind him, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She squeaked when he picked her up suddenly and started spinning in a circle.

"Ah Danny, be care—" but Sam's warning was cut short as she and Danny fell to the floor. Danny cushioned their fall with his body and as a result Sam ended up in his lap. They chuckled and Sam threw her arms around Danny's neck. "Congratulations!" she said in between laughter.

Beside them, Tuck had sunk to his knees with a pathetically dramatic look of defeat on his face. Seeing his face made Danny and Sam laugh even harder. Eventually Tucker stood up and walked over to his friends, who were still in hysterics.

"Alright, alright enough laughing at my expense." Tuck admonished with a small smile. He held out a hand to help Sam off of Danny's lap and she took it reluctantly.

"You still have one more frame to bowl." Danny reminded the Goth girl.

She shrugged. "It doesn't really matter; I beat you both without it anyway."

"Oh yeah just keep rubbing it in." Tucker said sarcastically.

Sam trailed over to the couch in front of the huge TV screen and the boys followed her.

"What do you guys wanna do now?" she asked as she collapsed into the soft, fluffy red couch.

Tucker's eyes fell on one of the overstuffed pillows at the end of the couch. He glanced at Danny and they nodded.

"Pillow fight!" the boys yelled. Sam shrieked and tried to grab the nearest pillow before Danny or Tucker did.

Let the fight begin.

Next Chapter Preview: If You Love Her... Give Her Piggy-Back Rides.


	9. Give Her Piggy Back Rides

AN: Please read the extended AN at the end of the chapter :)

Disclaimer: Yeah, I still own nothing

If You Love Her…

…Give Her Piggy Back Rides

Unfortunately for the halfa, Sam and Tucker reached the nearest pillows before he did. Danny managed to dodge the worst of their blows, while running to the other couch, which was conveniently located on the other side of the room. He grabbed a pillow for himself and turned back towards his friends, who were approaching him with their own pillows raised.

"Tuck, I thought we were in this together!" Danny protested as the tech geek aimed for his head.

"I don't recall saying that." his best friend replied with a smirk. Yet instead of hitting Danny, he turned and hit Sam while she was distracted by the boys' conversation. Sam let out a noise of indignation and hit Tucker back. Then Danny joined the fray, hitting Sam on the head by standing up on the couch. Tucker grabbed Danny's legs and pulled him down to the ground. The halfa tried to stop him by striking Tuck repeatedly wherever he could reach, but Danny's efforts were in vain. Soon both Tucker and Sam were pummeling him as he lay on the ground.

"This is so unfair!" he told them, but he was laughing as he said it. Danny struck out blindly with his pillow, hoping to hit one of his friends. He heard an intake of breath and was about to start feeling victorious when he noticed that Sam had dropped her pillow. Danny sat up quickly and saw her holding her nose, tears in her eyes but stubbornly unshed.

"Sam are you ok?" Tucker asked, quickly realizing what had happened.

"Yeah I'll be fine. Look it isn't even bleeding. Danny just surprised me is all." Sam lowered her hands only to reveal that her nose _was _bleeding.

"Oh crap Sam, I'm _so _sorry!" Danny exclaimed, leaping to his feet. "I'll go get you some tissues and some ice."

The Goth girl laughed. "Way to freak out Danny. I'll be fine, but if it'll make you feel better you can go get the stuff."

Danny hurried upstairs and grabbed the first box of Kleenex he could find. Then he ran to the kitchen and grabbed a container at random. He filled it with ice from the fridge and started to dash back to the basement. But, being Danny, he tripped on the tile floor and spilled half the ice cubes. Deciding he would clean that up later, he finally made it back down to Sam and Tucker.

"Thanks Danny," Sam said with a smile as he handed her a tissue. "By the way, I heard you fall, are you ok?"

The halfa flushed in embarrassment. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've definitely had worse after all."

"Too true," Tucker agreed with a chuckle. "I don't think any floor could do the kind of damage ghosts do to Danny."

"What if there was a floor ghost?" Sam asked, her voice sounding slightly nasal as she pinched her nose to stop the bleeding.

Tuck shook his head. "What, a box ghost isn't enough for you?"

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!" a ghostly voice called from a closet nearby.

Danny, Tucker, and Sam blinked in surprise. They turned towards the closet to see the Box Ghost's head sticking out from the closet door.

"Now, really?" Danny asked raising an eyebrow towards the cube-loving, would-be fiend.

"Um… FEAR ME!" With that the Box Ghost's head disappeared into the closet.

The three friends looked at each other for a few moments and then burst out laughing.

"Did he really just… leave?" Sam asked.

"I think so, I'm not getting a ghost sense." Danny replied.

"Now that's a first!" Tucker exclaimed. "You beat a ghost without even having to pull out a thermos." Everyone laughed again and shook their heads. The Box Ghost really was pathetic.

"Hey Sam, how's your nose bleed?" Danny asked moving closer to her in an attempt to look.

"I think it's stopped bleeding." she replied, taking the Kleenex off her nose. She poked at it and when no blood appeared, the Goth threw the tissue into a trashcan.

"You should put ice on it so you don't get a bruise." suggested Danny.

Sam nodded and sat back down next to Danny. "Hey Tuck, bring me that bowl will you?"

"Sure," the tech geek replied and grabbed the bowl off the coffee table. "Oh my god that's cold!" he yelled, pushing the ice away and rubbing his leg.

"What happened?" Sam asked in amusement.

"Some of the ice melted and I spilt water all over my pants!" Tucker cried. "It's so cold!"

"Oh stop being a baby," Sam laughed, getting up and grabbing the bowl herself. She wrapped a couple pieces of ice in some Kleenexes and put them on her nose.

"I'm gonna go change into my pajama pants." Tucker decided. "It's close to nine anyway. Might as well get comfortable." He marched off to get his overnight bag and disappeared into the bathroom.

"I'm really sorry about hitting you." Danny said after a silence.

Sam smiled. "And I've told you it's _really _ok. You can stop apologizing." In all actuality, Sam thought that Danny's constant apologies were very cute. She also liked how he was so worried about her and she knew he was earnest. When he could avoid it, Danny wasn't a violent person so injuring a friend freaked him out a little bit.

"I know, I know. I just feel like I can't do anything to make you feel better." Danny sighed helplessly.

"You got the ice and the tissues, what more could I ask for?" Sam rolled her eyes.

"I dunno, what more _could_ you ask for?"

The way Danny phrased the question made Sam feel like he was challenging her in some way, so she shrugged and replied, "Maybe you could kiss it and make it feel better." Sam said it lightly so to anyone else it would sound like she was joking. Yet the Goth trusted that Danny would realize she was answering his challenge.

"You know I've heard that's a universal cure for all pains." he responded while at the same time sliding closer to Sam.

"It uh… worked when we were kids." Sam agreed, feeling slightly nervous despite herself. The ice bowl was still right next to her, so she dumped the Kleenex-wrapped ice cube she had been holding on her nose, waiting to see if Danny really would kiss her.

Just as he leaned in to go through with his challenge, Danny was interrupted by the return of Tucker. He frowned mentally at his friend's bad timing, and hastened to pull away from Sam before Tuck saw anything.

"Oh god no," Sam said shaking her head. "Really Tuck, really?"

Danny started to blush, thinking that Sam was going to berate Tucker for his poor arrival, but then he turned to look at his best friend. He too began shaking his head at the tech geek when he saw what Tucker was wearing.

"There's nothing wrong with these!" Tuck protested waving his hand towards his pajama pants.

"The pants? No. You? Yes." Sam retorted as she took in the pants. They were decorated with different kinds of handheld electronic devices. Cell phones, palm pilots, PDAs, BlackBerries, and more covered the pants in a mass of cloth buttons and screens. They were all different colors too, which made the article even gaudier.

"You just had to pack those, didn't you Tuck?" Danny sighed. "You should have known Sam would give you a hard time." He had, of course, already seen these pajama pants before, so seeing them now didn't come as much of a shock.

"I was in a hurry and these were on top of the pile!" Tucker defended himself.

"And why, pray tell, would they be on top?" asked Sam. "If I owned something like those I would burry them in a place where they'd never be worn."

"Oh enough!" a frustrated Tucker shouted. "These are my favorite pajama pants. There I admitted it, now can we move on?"

Danny and Sam laughed for a little while longer at Tucker's expense but eventually decided to drop the subject. That is, until he brought it up again.

"I'm sure you guys have embarrassing pajamas too." Tucker grumbled about ten minutes later. The trio had gathered around a game of Parcheesi. Danny had been kicking butt because no one had been able to break his block, although Sam had been sacrificing her pieces trying. They looked up when their friend mentioned the pants again.

"Well sure," Danny agreed, "We can just give you a hard time because you actually wore them tonight."

"What are your embarrassing pajamas?" Sam asked Danny curiously.

Laughing he replied, "My mom got me some Ghost Buster pants for my birthday last year."

"That's fitting," Tucker nodded. "Your turn Sam."

She blushed. "I, uh, actually made mine." she stalled.

"What did you put on them?" Danny asked interestedly. He never would have expected Sam to make her own clothes.

"The symbol I drew and put on your suit…" Sam mumbled.

"Whoa really? I didn't know you drew that! When did this happen?"

"When Desiree granted my wish that I had never met you, I had to help you get your powers back in order to defeat her. Before I let you go into the ghost portal again I put a decal of the symbol I sketched on your suit." Sam replied.

"Oh yeah, I knew something was different." Danny nodded.

"It was easier to tell you it had always been there at the time." she explained. "I guess I just forgot to mention it before now."

"You should show them to us." the halfa suggested. "The pajamas, I mean." he added when Sam didn't reply.

"Yeah I knew what you meant. It's just a little… embarrassing that's all."

"That was the point, Sam!" chuckled Tucker.

The Goth rolled her eyes but decided to give in. It would be less painful for them all in the long run. She could refuse Tucker forever but if Danny really wanted to see the pajamas she just couldn't say no. "I'll be right back; I'll just change into them." Sam got to her feet and headed upstairs to her bedroom.

"I suppose I'll change as well." Danny decided, making towards his duffle bag. "Y'know it's really cool that Sam drew that symbol. It makes me feel like being half-ghost is a little more special." he admitted while he dug through his bag, looking for his pajamas.

"I'm surprised she told you she was the one who drew it." Tucker said. "The only reason I knew was because I saw the sketch in her notebook."

Danny yawned as he pulled off his jeans and stepped into his comfy pants. "It's weird though, why should she be embarrassed about putting a decal that _she _made on _her own_ clothes?"

Tucker rolled his eyes at Danny's lack of logic. "Because she didn't make those pajamas until after she put the decal on your suit. And she was obviously thinking about you when she made the drawing."

With slightly pink cheeks, Danny replied, "How do you know she was thinking of me?"

"Hello! It looks like 'DP.' Danny Phantom. Get a clue, Danny."

"Should I?" he wondered out loud.

"Should you what?" Sam asked, having returned to the basement. She was wearing a black summer robe over her pajamas, still debating about whether or not she should show the boys.

"Nothing," Danny replied too quickly.

Sam gave him a "you've-got-to-be-kidding-me" look and turned to Tucker.

"I was just saying that Danny should admit that he's totally in lo—" Danny grabbed Tuck and covered his mouth, sufficiently cutting him off, before he could finish the sentence.

"Whatever… boys." Sam walked towards the couch shaking her head.

Danny glared daggers at Tucker before letting the tech geek go. Tuck shrugged as if to say "she didn't believe your 'nothing' anyway!" The boys watched as Sam sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

"How about a movie?" she asked, stiffening a small yawn. "It's getting pretty late so we should probably wind down."

For Tucker and Danny, the phrase "wind down" had absolutely nothing to do with sleepovers. However, it was Friday night, so they had all gotten up early for school that morning and were beginning to feel tired. They had all of tomorrow anyway. Therefore the boys agreed to watch a movie with Sam, plopping down on either side of her on the couch. It wasn't long before Tuck was snoring. Danny and Sam laughed quietly at him, especially when he started to lean to the side and finally ended up on the couch in a suitable sleeping position. Sam lasted until a little over halfway through the movie. She had been hoping Danny was the kind of person who fell asleep easily during movies since she didn't want her guests to be the last ones awake. However as she was drifting off she could see Danny still watching the movie.

When Sam woke up about an hour later, the credits were rolling on the TV screen. Tucker was still passed out next to her, dead to the world. She soon realized what had woke her. Sometime between when she had fallen asleep and now, Danny had rested his head on top of hers. Sam assumed he was asleep, but when she started to stir he jerked up.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Did I wake you?"

"Nope," Sam replied, still half asleep.

Danny got up from the couch and stood in front of her. "I'm guessing we're not all gonna sleep on the couch tonight."

The young woman just shrugged tiredly. "I 'unno. I didn't really think 'bout sleepin' arrangements."

"That's ok." the halfa said comfortingly. He kneeled down with his back facing towards Sam. "Climb on, I'll take you up to your room."

"But I'm heavy." Sam protested. "You won't make it all the stairs."

"Bet ya I will," Danny challenged, hoping Sam's competitive side would flare up even when she was groggy.

"Go 'head 'n try." she shrugged, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Danny slid his hands under Sam's thighs, and stood up, lifting her onto his back. He carried her up the two flights of stairs and down the long hallway into her room without so much as jostling her. In fact, he was so conscious of how he moved with her on his back that Sam was asleep again by the time they reached her room. Smiling, Danny set her down on her bed and decided he better take off her robe. Mostly he thought this because he wasn't sure how the knot would affect Sam sleeping, but it was also because she had never showed him and Tucker the pajamas she made. Untying the cord cautiously, Danny slipped one of Sam's arms out of the robe and then the other.

Sam's pajamas were a black tank top and pink shorts. On the tank top was the symbol she had drawn in pink, and all over the shorts the symbol was in black. They were very cute and made Danny smile to himself again. He would have liked to stay and watch Sam sleep some more, but he didn't want to wake her again by lingering. So he covered her with a blanket as best he could and then looked around for somewhere to sleep himself. His eyes fell on the window seat parallel to her bed. He figured it was just as comfortable as any of the couches, and if he slept there he would be closer to Sam. Decision made, Danny grabbed an extra blanket and pillow from Sam's bed and carried them over to the window seat. The halfa fell asleep with a view of Sam in one direction and the stars in another. He knew which view he preferred more.

AN: Before I give you guys your preview I really wanted to thank everyone for reading, review, and even just adding me to your alerts or favs. I know I'm not the most consistent author, so the fact that you continue reading means a lot to me. Without your support, I would probably give up on my stories before they were finished, thinking they were no good. So thanks a ton and hopefully I'll see you for the next chapter!

Preview: If You Love Her... Play With Her Hair


End file.
